Cooks come out of the kitchen and into the competition area to prepare their culinary concoction in hopes of taking home the bragging rights at the end of the day and saying ’my chili’s the best in Louisville!’

Judging is of two distinct categories, restaurant and individual, giving everyone who dares the opportunity to compete.

Celebrity judges representing the local media base their decisions on chili density, zestfulness, aroma, and aftertaste.

Phairgoers also have a voice in the voting process. Following a complete sampling of the participant’s culinary creation, phairgoers are encouraged to vote in The People’s Choice Contest.

Everyone is invited to participate in the zany chili contests: The Master Hole-Hitting, Jalapeno Pepper-Eating, and Spam-Put (a crowd phavorite).

Throughout the day, phairgoers will be entertained by musical groups on four different stages. All Outside music will end by 8PM.

The Great Chili Cookoff is a phamily event. Face painting, mural painting, and inflatable bouncing equipment give the kids something to do in The Kids Area.

Phamilies are welcome ‘til 10 pm. The Great Chili Cookoff is a PHREE rain or shine event that promises BIG PHUN for all ages!

Next up, we learned through a series of emails that there was a little bit of rowdy behavior this past Wednesday. Karen Callahan, Neighborhood Liaison, sent a response on behalf of the owners of Phoenix Hill Tavern. Below is an expert from that email.

On behalf of myself and PHT, I extend my sincere apologies to you and anyone else our guests disturbed last night. Closing time is always our most challenging time, no matter what night of the week it is.

We want everyone to know that we continue to employ 6 working off duty, uniformed LMPD officers in marked cars. Two of those officers are assigned to what we call “Neighborhood Patrol.” Those officers constantly patrol the neighborhood and side streets close to PHT (Rogers, Payne, Rubel, St. Anthony’s and, of course, E. Broadway and Baxter). They do their best to keep noise and disorderly behavior to a minimum. This, generally speaking, has been very effective. Unfortunately, they can’t be everywhere at just the right time. The 5th District LMPD has been very visible and very active in our neighborhood in general, and especially on Wednesday nights. We appreciate and applaud their efforts.

I promise you that I will bring all this to the attention of Club Mgmt. and our set up LMPD officer. In the coming weeks, we will make an extra special effort to focus on the part of the neighborhood affected last night.

We still have permanent signs posted at all our exits encouraging our guests to respect our neighborhood as they leave. Our DJs still make nightly announcements at the end of every night encouraging our guests to leave quietly, keep their car stereos down, avoid littering etc. DJ’s remind them that we are a neighborhood friendly establishment and that we have nearby neighbors who are sleeping. We will continue to do that, and we will re-emphasize the importance of theses announcements to all staff members.

As you know, I can be reached by phone during business hours, or you are always welcome to walk over to my office and talk with me in person if you have any additional questions or concerns Chuck.

Thank you,

Karen Callahan

Neighborhood Liaison

We appreciate PHT’s efforts to keeping the neighborhood as clean and quiet as possible.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Irish Hill Festival. There was plenty of food, good music and a lot of conversation and catching up with friends.

A big THANK YOU goes to Baxter Avenue Baptist Church for hosting the Festival this year. It was a last minute put together, as our original plans fell through and we didn’t have time to get the proper Metro permits to hold it at Irish Hill Park or on one of the streets. The members of BABC did a wonderful job of getting everything setup, cooked and cleaned up afterwards. And it looks like the kids had a great time on the bouncy they provided! You guys are tops.

Did you get a chance to check out EDGE Outreach’s water purifying system? It’s amazing how a little bit of salt and a car battery can produce three (!) things to make the lives of people in third-world countries so much better: Clean water to drink, chlorine and lye which are by products manufactured in the water purification process that can be used to disinfect medical equipment and kill mosquito larvae, reducing the risk of death from unsanitary conditions and malaria. If you need more information about EDGE, please visit their website: http://edgeoutreach.org On their website, you can find locations to drop off old shoes, which they will use to fund their projects.

We welcome any feedback you would like to provide. Use the comment section below or send us a private message (email: info@irishhillneighbors.org). Thanks for supporting the Irish Hill Neighborhood.

The Irish Hill Neighborhood Association is looking for nominations for Louisville’s Next Top Neighbor. IHNA is a member organization of the Center For Neighborhoods (CFN). Below is an excerpt from their website describing the program.

If you would like to nominate someone as a Top Neighbor, please send an email to info@irishhillneighbors.org and we will get the nomination form to you. We are also looking for location suggestions within the neighborhood.

Center For Neighborhoods is excited to announce our next public art program,“Louisville’s Next Top Neighbor“

Louisville’s Next Top Neighbor is an inspiring mural project promoting neighborhood leaders who exemplify the “21st Century Neighbor” from all 26 districts. This is an important opportunity to recognize neighborhood leaders who are asking “What’s Next?” and improving the quality of life and the environment within their community.

A total of 40 portraits will be completed – 20 in Fall 2011 and 20 in Spring 2012. One neighbor will be selected from all 26 Metro Council districts from nominees submitted by the Metro Councilperson and the remaining 14 nominees will come from the CFN Neighborhood Association Members.

During the month of November, portraits of Louisville’s Next Top Neighbors will be completed at the specific locations. Center For Neighborhoods will announce the dates and time at which the artwork will be available for public viewing.

Louisville’s Next Top Neighbor is being funded by a generous gift from Owsley and Christy Brown.

The Phoenix Hill Farmers’ Market will open for it’s 4th Season on Tuesday, May 4. The Market is every Tuesday, from 3:00 – 6:30 p.m. (May – October), at 829 E. Market St. (Parking lot of the Felice Winery complex). The Market features locally grown fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, flowers, plants, breads, sweets, wine and much more. Freshly prepared food on site as well this year. Local musicians are also featured each week. The Spring Festival will be held on Tuesday, May 25. Come out each Tuesday to support your local farmers, meet your neighbors, and buy healthy food. Free parking on Market and Campbell Streets. For more information, contact Cindy Brown Kinloch at 583-7133 or 589-0975.

IHNA received the following information from our friends at the Center For Neighborhoods:

We still have some openings for Center For Neighborhoods’ Neighborhood Institute beginning next week on Thursday, May 6th. If you have the opportunity to join one of the upcoming sessions, please stop by and greet our future community leaders.